Christendom College Announces 8th Annual High School Summer Program

March 7, 2006

Christendom Colleges annual two-week summer program for high school students will be held on its Front Royal, Virginia, campus in two different sessions from June 18 to June 30 and from July 10 to July 22.

The program, now in its eighth year, gives rising high school seniors the opportunity to experience life as a student at an authentically Catholic college, where they will be fully immersed into a fully Catholic atmosphere where fun, friendship, culture, and academics are seamlessly woven together.

As in the past, the College is expecting approximately 100 students from across the country and abroad to spend time soaking up the Catholic Faith and culture in the sometimes hot and always Catholic climate found at Christendom.

High school students today have so many colleges from which to choose, says Admissions Director Tom McFadden. I think that it is important for students to figure out which college fits their needs best. Spending two weeks at Christendom, experiencing dorm life, the culture, the professors, and even the food, can do much to help students determine whether Christendom is the right place for them to spend their college years.

According to high school senior John Wardle (Poland, OH) the experience he had at the two-week summer camp made a deep impact on his life.

Before my parents sent me to the Christendom Summer Program this past summer, I had not really wanted to attend Christendom at all. But after attending, I now have a completely different feeling. What I found at Christendom was an unapologetic feeling of Catholicism. The respect and love shown for the Eucharist was most impressive, it moved your very soul closer to God. Even outside the chapel, aspirations toward grace were encouraged. The professors who taught the classes were not only teaching truths, but were striving to live them, too. I always noted that all the professors attended daily Mass with us and found it very inspirational.

The students daily schedule will be packed with both edifying and fun events, including classes in the mornings, attendance at daily Mass, and a variety of afternoon activities. Some of those activities include trips down the Shenandoah River in canoes; hikes through Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Mountains; exciting softball and volleyball games; attendance at an Orioles baseball game in Baltimore at Camden Yards; a trip to the Nations Capital to visit the John Paul II Cultural Center and the monuments and museums; and a special evening of fun and comraderie at College President Dr. Timothy ODonnells house.

We have had such tremendous feedback from past campers, says Shalon Riddle, coordinator of the program. Students have come into the program thinking one thing about the college, and after two weeks, leave with new outlook on Christendom, as well as on life in general. Being with other students their age, with the same Catholic beliefs can sometimes be just the thing they need to help them deepen their love of and commitment to the Catholic faith.

Laura Judge (Westminster, MD) said that before the summer camp she had become so used to always having to stand up for her faith and defend it, that she was surprised when she met so many other kids who had the same views that she did.

It was tremendous to be able to pray before meals without receiving strange looks and to suggest going to church at midnight without someone asking if you had gone insane! I have never been around a group of so many young people who did not complain about going to Mass everyday!

And Mary Kate Hunt (Plano, TX) added that she really got along with all the people she met.

"Out of the dozens of people that I met at Christendom, almost every single person I met was absolutely amazing! I feel closer now to a few of the people I was there with than to some of my other friends who I have known my entire life. I think one of the reasons I get along with them so well is that we have the same, or at least, very similar, beliefs. Living where I do, I didnt think anyone outside of my family believed exactly what I do. I know that when I go to Christendom I will be surrounded by the right kind of people, the people who, for the most part, will influence me in a positive way.

Application forms for the High School Summer Program are available HERE or can be obtained by calling the Admissions Office at (800) 877-5456.